~June~
11) Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington
12) That Time I Joined the Circus by J.J. Howard
13) Insomnia by J.R. Johansson
14) Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey
15) A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee
16) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
17) The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
18) Some Quiet Place by Kelsey Sutton
19) The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standiford

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Friday, June 28, 2013

Blood Feud Alyxandra HarveyBloomsbury USJune 22nd, 2010Drake Chronicles, #2Young AdultBought for kindle.Synopsis via GoodreadsIt's been centuries since Isabeau St. Croix barely survived the French Revolution. Now she's made her way back to the living and she must face the ultimate test by confronting the evil British lord who left her for dead the day she turned into a vampire. That's if she can control her affection for Logan Drake, a vampire whose bite is as sweet as the revenge she seeks. The clans are gathering for Helena's royal coronation as the next vampire queen, and new alliances are beginning to form now that the old rifts of Lady Natasha's reign have started to heal. But with a new common enemy, Leander Montmarte—a vicious leader who hopes to force Solange to marry him and usurp the power of the throne for himself—the clans must stand together to preserve the peace he threatens to destroy.This second adventure in the Drake Chronicles—told from both Logan's and Isabeau's perspectives—has all the same butt-kicking action, heart-pounding romances and snarky humor that readers loved in Hearts at Stake, as well as exciting new revelations about the vampire dynasties to keep readers coming back for more.

Review
These books are just pure, action-packed fun. They will not change your life or how you view the world. They won't make you pull out the tissues. What they will do is provide you with a couple of hours of humorous entertainment. And sometimes, that is all you really want.

Isabeau was quite a departure from our previous heroines, Lucy and Solange, in Hearts at Stake. Her demeanor was more serious and rougher around the edges, with a strong taste for revenge. This kick-ass chick had a really painful history and I found that I couldn't help but root for her. Logan Drake, with his charm and old-fashioned "pirate" attire, was the perfect yin to Isabeau's yang: the two alternating perspective balanced each other out rather nicely. In the first book, our two main guys were Kieran and Nicholas. I have to say, I think Logan is my favorite so far. The romance between Isabeau and Logan was sweet and moved rather quickly, as the romances tend to do in this series. I find I don't mind though. I wished I could have gotten a little more of Lucy, but I understand why Harvey kept Lucy's presence to a minimum: she's got a personality that will outshine most any other character. With all of the Drakes returning, as well as characters like Montmarte, there was also a delightful array of new characters. We had a new villain in Greyhaven, as well as new Hound allies.

Blood Feud moves fast and is relatively short, like its predecessor. The problem with this is that it just doesn't allow enough time to fully develop the internal and external conflicts within the story, leading to a somewhat lackluster climax. I'd love to see these books be about a hundred or so pages longer a piece. And Harvey totally has a mesmerizing, potentially intricate enough story-world that she could totally do it. Especially with her switching focus between characters. That said, the plot remained exciting all the same. Harvey introduced magic into the series through the Hounds, who's leader reads bones and we get to go Dream Walking with Isabeau and Logan. Harvey also added to the complexity of the plot by including chapters from Isabeau's troubled and difficult past during the French Revolution. This was something that I felt really helped me to better understand Isabeau.

Harvey possesses a very fluid, completely immersing writing style that never fails to pull me in and down into the book from the very first page. It isn't perfect or anything mind-blowing, same as the other aspects of the books, but that's okay. For these books, it doesn't have to be and I don't think I'd change it.

The ending of Blood Feud was tied up quite neatly, maybe almost a little too neatly. I like that these books never end on huge cliffhangers though; they still always leaving me wanting more from the series.

In Essence

Characters:Kick-ass and charming. Always a great array of main and supporting characters!Writing: Great!Plot:Could have used deeper development but action-packed and exciting world building.Ending:Tied up neat.2nd in Series:A great continuation of the series, building the characters and world.Enjoyment/Likability:Yes. Really enjoyed this.Recommendable: Always.

Overall:Fun and exiting series that you can read in no time, many times!